


Light and Song

by Masterweaver



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-04-06 17:42:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14062053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Masterweaver/pseuds/Masterweaver
Summary: Sight and sound, two abilities that the world assumes everyone has.Weiss and Ruby, two souls who each had one of those taken.Fate and Destiny, two great forces that war over the slightest change.Welcome to the dance of those without Light and Song.





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a sketch of tumblr user LycanHeiress

She’d been midway through ranting at whoever had knocked over her suitcases when another voice had intervened. “She’s signing.”

“What?”

“She’s using sign language. Of course, I’m not surprised a Schnee doesn’t know about that.”

Weiss had frowned, turning to the voice, her hands on her hips. “And what’s that supposed to mean?” she demanded, quietly hoping her eyes were facing the right direction.

“Anyone who doesn’t fit your definition of normal…”

The voice trailed off for a moment. Then, without another word, footsteps started to click away. She let her head turn to follow them.

Then she went back to her suitcases. “As for you–”

The sound of the strange girl’s breathing was gone.

“…Hmmph.” Weiss crossed her arms, circling around slowly as she gathered her luggage back up.

* * *

Ozpin’s speech was pretty disheartening, but she’d heard similar speeches were common, at least according to Winter. Being forced to sleep in a room with so many noisy others…

Well, she’d long ago learned to discern the pattern of breathing, footsteps in a crowd. She kept her head held high, not turning it no matter the snatches of conversation that hit her ears.

“…Schnee, she’s an excellent singer…”

“…the Mistral Champion! I mean, I would have thought she’d go to Haven but…”

“…not many faunus this year. That’s a bit worrying, especially…”

“…wanted to thank you for trying to help my sister. Do you know sign language?”

That caught Weiss’s attention. She paused, tilting her head sideways.

“I know  _of_  it. Learned a few scraps.” That was the voice that had admonished her. “Not enough to hold a conversation.”

“Hey, I know how hard it can be. Ruby’s always been a little awkward, but the incident just… makes it worse for her–Hey!”

“She seems to be handling herself,” the voice noted with amusement.

Weiss bit her lip, glancing in the direction of the grunting sounds and meaty slaps. From the words around her, it was simply two students having a physical altercation… and not a serious one.

But she could only hear one voice.

* * *

“The first student you make eye contact with will be your partner.”

Even as she made glyphs to redirect her descent, those words reverberated in her skull. Eye contact? How could she even tell if it had happened? The moment she made contact with the ground, she started walking straight forward, her rapier swinging gently left and right. Maybe somebody would find her, maybe she could simply pretend that it was intentional–

A sound like billowing cloth caught her ears and she whirled, her sword at the ready. The cloth stopped suddenly, accompanied by a small squeak.

And breathing.

“…Well?” Weiss demanded eventually. “Aren’t you going to introduce yourself?”

The breathing continued for a moment. She heard a small click, a latch by her guess… and then scribbling? Who would carry writing utensils into Emerald Forest?

“What are you doing? I said, introduce yourself!”

Another squeak came forth, and footsteps, quickly joining her side. The smell of paper suddenly assaulted her nose.

“Why are you sticking paper in my face?” she cried, knocking aside the offending appendage with her hand. “We’re in the middle of initiation, I don’t have time to look at your sketches. If you’re not going to take this seriously–”

She paused, hearing the other person fall to her knees, squeaking pitifully as she shuffled around. After a moment, she hung her sword from her hip, walking over.

“Okay, look. I’m… sorry, for being so harsh. It’s just this is Beacon’s initiation ceremony. If you’re lost, you can stick with me until I get you someplace safe.” She tried to smile. “After all, I’m going to be a huntress, and a huntress is supposed to keep everybody safe. So… why don’t we start over?”

She held out a hand. “I’m Weiss Schnee. Who are you?”

There was a pause. And then another squeak.

“Am I talking to a girl or a mouse?” Weiss asked.

A hand hit her cheek.

* * *

“Of all the things that could have happened,” Weiss grumbled, rubbing her face as she swung her sword in front of her. “Escorting some child through the forest while trying to find a partner–”

A squeak sounded from behind her.

“You could at least tell me your name!” she pointed out. “I gave you mine after all.”

The girl stamped her foot petulantly.

“I’m keeping you safe, alright? I’ll talk to professor Ozpin once we get out, just to make sure he knows how you got in. Only Huntsmen and Huntresses should be able to get in here.”

That got an angry squeak… followed, without warning, by the sound of ratcheting metal. Weiss turned around when she heard the thunk of a blade embedding itself in the dirt.

“Ah, good, a huntress. We’ve been looking for you–”

The infuriated squeak that came in response gave her pause.

“…You’re a huntress,” she said, calmly.

Her reply was, of course, another squeak.

“…Why didn’t you say anything?”

There didn’t seem to be a reply to that. Weiss frowned, about to say something…

…and then she facepalmed. “Are you the sign language girl?”

An exasperated squeak.

“Right. Of course you are. And we’ve made eye contact. Great.” Weiss rubbed her forehead. “Right… Ruby, right?”

That got her a squeak of surprise.

“Why don’t you tell me what you can do?”

Silence, again.

“…alright,” Weiss ground out, “never mind. Keep it to yourself. But from now on, try to tell me what–”

Suddenly Ruby lunged her into the bushes, the branches and brambles digging into her skirt as she flailed about.

“What are you doing, you–?!”

A hand covered her mouth, accompanied by a quiet squeak. Weiss glowered in the general direction of Ruby’s position.

She could already tell it was going to be a long day.

* * *

“Hey, Rubes! And you must be–”

“Weiss Schnee,” Weiss said. “Who are you?”

“Yang Xiao Long. I’m Ruby’s big sis.” The voice chuckled warmly. “It’s good to see she found a partner, I was a little worried.”

Weiss huffed. “Yes, I can understand why you would be,” she grumbled, brushing off a few leaves.

“I mean, it’s a little silly I know, she can obviously handle herself if she was pushed ahead a couple of years–”

That earned a blink of surprise, one that went unnoticed.

“–but you know, I’m her big sister and I’ll always worry about her.”

The billowing sound of Ruby’s approach caught her attention, alongside the clicking footsteps that belonged to the voice from the courtyard.

“Aw, you got a relic to match mine? That’s sweet!” Yang’s footsteps seemed to reverberate as they approached her sister. “What have you been up to in the forest anyway?”

“She’s been remarkably bipolar,” Weiss reported dryly. “Slaying beowolves easily, and randomly shoving me into bushes.”

“Well, it did keep that Nevermore off your tail.”

“…yes.” Weiss nodded reluctantly. “The Nevermore. It was still rather annoying,” she added, “but I suppose it is a way to keep us from being spotted.”

She rubbed her arm awkwardly. Flying Grimm could be so… quiet.

“Well, we’ve got our relics. Oh! Blake, I know you’ve met my sister, but this is her partner–”

“Weiss Schnee.” The voice was flat. “Yes, we’ve met before.”

“….Waaaaaait.” Yang’s tone grew suspicious. “Are you the girl with all the luggage?”

“There are plenty of girls with ‘all the luggage,’“ Weiss replied, annoyed.

“Look, I don’t know what you were trying to pull with my sister yesterday–”

“Wait.” Weiss held up a hand. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“I hear it too,” said the other voice.

“That direction, small… much larger from over there…” Weiss held her sword firmly. “There’s Grimm, and…”

“…and there’s screaming,” Blake confirmed.

The ratchet of Ruby’s weapon announced her position by her side. A quick squeak sounded out.

“….Yeah, good plan,” Yang said. A deeper clacking sounded from her. “You two get that?”

“Get what?”

“Me and Ruby will take the small one, you and Yang hold off the big one until we’re ready to join you,” Blake summarized. “That is what she said, right?”

“Yeah, that’s what she said.”

“…reasonable,” Weiss allowed. “Let’s get to it.”

* * *

Weiss awoke the next morning to a piercing whistle, which she responded to by flinging her hand at the offending noise.

“Who did that?! NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!”

“Hey, Weiss, calm down. Ruby was just trying to get our attention.”

The girl sat up with a growl. “She could have gotten it without being so noisy.”

Yang snorted. “Wow. Look, just let her have this, alright? It’s her first day being team leader.”

“That much is clear,” Weiss grumbled.

“Maybe you should wait for her to give out orders,” Blake deadpanned.

“Hmmpf. Very well.” Weiss turned in the vague direction of Ruby’s breathing, clutching her knees. “What is so important that you had to blow a whistle in my ear?”

A confident squeak preceded the slap of wood against plastic.

“That’s a great idea!” Yang cheered. “What do you think, Blake?”

“We do have an awful lot in here,” Blake agreed.

Weiss rubbed her forehead. “She hasn’t told us anything.”

“Uh, yeah she has,” Yang countered. “I mean, look at the board, I bet she was up early preparing that list!”

“What list?!”

“The list on the whiteboard! It’s color-coded for each of us! You’d have to be blind not to see it!”

Weiss flinched, her shoulders going tense.

“…You’re not…” Blake’s voice was disbelieving. “…you’re not actually blind, are you?”

For a moment, the rustling of the leaves outside almost drowned out the breathing of the others.

“…so what if I am?” Weiss finally replied, her tone only just tinged with tears.

“Oh. Oh god.” Yang’s voice dropped its humor. “Look, I’m sorry, I–I didn’t mean to–”

“No, you did. You couldn’t possibly understand, none of you could possibly–”

The billowing of Ruby’s approach was not enough to prepare her for the arms that wrapped around her frame.

“What are you doing? I don’t need your sympathy, I… I just need a little bit of accommodation. I got into Beacon on my own, you know–”

“Ruby’s mute.”

Weiss blinked. “What?”

Yang sighed. “Ruby’s mute, Weiss. She can’t talk. She probably… she probably gets what you’re going through more than I do. But I know what she went through, growing up… look, my point is, the blind crack was… not right. I’m sorry, really. Just… we can make this work, if you let us know what we need to do.”

Weiss frowned. “Wait. You… can’t talk?”

A sad squeak.

“…Why didn’t you… oh.” Weiss sighed. “That… actually explains a lot about yesterday.” Her hand met her face. “I am such an idiot.”

Ruby patted her shoulder consolingly.

“Ruby, I… would like to apologize for my behavior. And… thank you for keeping with me all through it.” Weiss bit her lip. “Just… we’re going to have to figure this out, I suppose.”

“Gods,” Blake mumbled just under her breath. “There’s the understatement of the year…”

“Look… first thing’s first.” Yang clapped her hands together. “The plan Ruby put together for rearranging the dorm. Now, I don’t think any of the steps will have to change, but I don’t… know for certain, so while I’m working with the furniture, why don’t you and Blake go over it with Ruby just in case?”

Weiss nodded. “That’s… reasonable, I suppose. What exactly are you going to be doing with the furniture?”

“Making bunk beds.”

“…Ruby, did you actually tell your older sister to make us bunk beds?”

A happy squeak.

“…Well, I suppose you aren’t a  _completely_  incompetent leader.”


	2. Part 2

A single squeak made Weiss look up from the pages she was running her fingers over. “Is something wrong Ruby?”

The hands of her partner wrapped around her unoccupied arm, tugging gently but eagerly.

“Ruby, I do need more time to study than most,” Weiss pointed out. “Is this really important?”

Ruby’s squeak was completely sincere.

“…Alright.” Weiss stood up. “What do you want to….?”

She trailed off for a moment.

“…well… show me, I guess…?”

Ruby quickly grasped Weiss’s left hand, curling it into a gripping position and maneuvering it through a swing.

“Myrtenaster? What about it–?”

The annoyed squeak she received in reply gave her pause.

“This isn’t going to work… Okay.” Weiss held out her hand. “One tap for yes, two for no. Do you want to talk about my sword?”

Tap. Tap-tap.

“Yes and no?”

Tap.

Weiss groaned. “Is what you want to talk about related to my sword?”

Tap.

“Is it about my Dust?”

Tap-tap.

“…Is this about your sword?”

A happy squeak and a tap.

“You want to show me your sword.”

Tap, and then another tap but on her other hand.

“So that’s two yesses… does that mean there’s more than just your sword you want to show me?”

Tap.

“…You want to show me more than one sword,” Weiss said slowly.

Tap.

“You want to show me… the team’s swords. Their weapons.”

Tap, and a very happy squeak.

“…Alright. You know what… that’s a good idea. I should know what my teammates are fighting with.” She paused. “But… can we do it here, in the dorm? The library is a little… public for me.”

Tap. And then, a gentle hug.

“Alright, alright… just call up the others. Or, uh, text them, I guess.”

This squeak was almost certainly a laugh.

* * *

“Yeah, it’s actually a good idea,” Yang mused. “I mean, do you just want to listen to us talk about our weapons or–?”

“If… you don’t mind, I’d like to feel them.” Weiss coughed. “I mean, just to understand what it is when you explain them.”

“Alright.” Yang’s reverberating steps moved over, and she grabbed Weiss’s hand gently. “First of all, this is Ember Cecelia in their resting state.”

Weiss followed the path that Yang led her fingers down. “This is… a bracelet?”

“I’ve got two, one for each wrist. Mostly the same, but–”

“This feels… thick,” Weiss muttered. “There are layers here, I can… I can feel the latch-work. Do they extend into blades?”

“Not blades. Hold on.” Yang took her arm away, and after a clack, returned it to her. “Now this is Ember Cecelia in active form–I took out the dust shells, but otherwise it’s about right.”

Weiss ran her hand cautiously over the thick metal “So… there’s this groove here. It… runs under this shield, on your hand.”

“Yep. Shotgun gauntlets, that’s what I was aiming for. That part takes the recoil, but it’s also a good shield.”

“You fight with your fists.”

“That’s right. Brawling’s what my dad did when he was a huntsman, and it’s sort of… a thing for me too? Don’t worry, everyone else on this team can slice and stab.”

Weiss nodded, carefully tracing the border of the weapon. “I guess you wear a lot of armor, then.”

“…well… actually… my semblance is, you know, powering up from hits. I take damage, and I can get stronger with it. So armor’s kind of a no-go for me.”

“Oh.” Weiss nodded, pulling her hand back. “I guess that makes sense. If it works for you.” She cleared her throat. “Blake?”

Blake sighed. “I’m not comfortable just handing over Gambol Shroud.”

Ruby squeaked, the cloth of her cloak rustling as she shifted position.

“It’s not like I intend to steal it,” Weiss deadpanned. “And I know how to be careful with delicate things.”

“That’s… not what I’m concerned about.”

For a moment, there was silence.

“…Ruby’s right,” Yang pointed out. “We have to trust each other if we’re going to be a team.”

“Ruby,” Weiss groaned, “you  _know_  I can’t hear it when you sign…”

Ruby gave her a sad squeak.

“It’s… fine, I guess. I’d just like to know  _when_  you’re talking, at the least.”

Blake sighed, her footsteps clicking over quietly. “Fine. Be careful, it’s… not exactly robust.”

Weiss felt something laid across her lap. Hesitantly, she ran her hands over it. “This… is a cleaver? No, wait, there’s a hole here…a grip, but something’s in the middle. This is a thick sharpened sheathe. Which makes this…”

She trailed a finger across a zig-zagging grove.

“…an oddly shaped crossguard. There’s some mechanical aspect I’m missing, isn’t there?”

“It’s a pistol,” Yang explained. “Some sort of slide action, right Blake?”

“Yes.”

“That would explain this hinged part,” Weiss mused. “It… lengthens the muzzle, makes for more accurate firing, right?”

“That’s… right,” Blake confirmed with some astonishment. “I use it when I need to hit smaller targets. Most people don’t notice that part, actually.”

“They’re usually too busy looking at the sword part, I guess,” Yang mused. “Oh, Blake! Show–uh, let her feel the sword part! She’ll get a kick out of that!”

Weiss rolled her eyes when the heavy object was removed from her lap. “The word ‘show’ is fine, Yang.”

“Loo–uh… listen, I know better than to tell Ruby to speak up, alright?”

“You can show me things without me needing to see them. You can show me a song, right?” Weiss obediently ran her fingers over Gambol Shroud when it was returned to her lap. “Showing is presentation, not necessarily visual.”

She trailed over the curve of the blade, noting the spike on the reverse edge, and pausing for a moment when she felt a hinge partway down. “This folds back… but it’s held up by this, what, I’m feeling a tension here. Magnetic?”

“Well… yes.” Blake reached out, guiding her hand. “I don’t know if you can feel it, but there are two bands of metal down here that generate the field.”

“Yes, I feel them. This… these are connected to something in the gun, aren’t they?”

“Yes, there’s a little bit of latch-work. If I switch it, the blade shifts out but the polarity reverses–”

“–and the thing folds and slides along these… pivots in the top?” Weiss finished. “And you  _fight_  with this thing?”

“She’s really good at it,” Yang assured her. “She’s got this ribbon she wraps around her arm and ties to the trigger so she can fling it around.”

“…Blake, this is one of the most incredible pieces of jury-rigging I have ever encountered. I can’t decide if you’re insane or some sort of martial genius.”

Blake sighed, taking Gambol Shroud away. “I worked with what I had.”

“If you think that’s crazy, wait until Ruby gives you Crescent Rose.” Yang laughed. “I mean, that thing is just… wild. I told her the design wouldn’t work and she just stuck out her tongue, doubled down, and a week later guess who came in the top of their weapon design class?”

Ruby squeaked happily, rushing up next to Weiss and plunking something into her lap.

“Ooof! What is this, the arm of an Atlas Sentry?”

“Atlas what now?”

“That’s the ‘official’ name of the spider droids,” Blake explained in deadpan.

“Oh yeah! Those things. I’ve never seen one in person, but they look neat in all the advertisements.” Yang chuckled. “No, that’s Crescent Rose all folded up.”

Ruby took Weiss’s hand, guiding it along a series of complex grooves and pivots.

“…Seven, eight… nine? And I assume it’s mirrored… eighteen different plates, around a central rodlike core–wait, no, there’s another in here… what is this beast? How many forms can you put this through?”

“Well, there are two basic forms,” Yang replied as Ruby took the weapon. “First there’s the basic rifle shape.” A ratcheting sound, and the weapon was carefully laid across her lap again.

She reached out to feel the plates, but Ruby grasped her hand and redirected it towards the less armored portion. Her fingers trailed over the extended rod, noting the unfolded scope and revealed grip. “This thing on the back… it unfolds, doesn’t it? I can feel a hollow tip here, do blades spring out?”

“Yep, it’s the tip of–well, Ruby, do you think she’s ready to face Crescent Rose in her full fury?”

Ruby squeaked, pulling the device away. For a moment there was silence.

“…Yeah, okay. Weiss, I’m going to hold Crescent Rose while Ruby shows her to you, alright?”

“I suppose that’s alright….”

Another ratcheting sound, and then Ruby took her hand gently and led her over to… well…. she recognized the large pivot under her hand, but the way the armored plates had unfolded more than doubled the length of this armored portion.

“That’s the scythe blade,” Yang explained as Ruby guided her along. “There’s this… uh, handle back here, and if she twists it the scythe rotates too–it can go something like a full ninety degrees.”

“A V-blade arrangement,” Weiss mused. “Very tight, this thing curls up when it folds…” Her partner directed her hand down the long barrel. “And this part extends as well? You must get a lot of recoil with this.”

“Yeah, Ruby can go flying when she starts shooting. Works great with her speed semblance though. And stick the blade into the ground–”

“–would stop the recoil without losing the advantage of the increased range. You could shoot a target from incredibly far away….”

Weiss’s voice dropped for a moment. “You… you must have incredible vision, Ruby.”

The hand over hers entangled their fingers tightly.

“No, it’s fine, it’s fine, we all have our gifts. I suppose…” Weiss cleared her throat. “And you designed this yourself?”

Tap.

“No help whatsoever?”

Tap.

Weiss chuckled. “Well, if you ever get tired of being a huntress, my sister is a close collaborator with General Ironwood. I’m sure I could put in a good word for you with the equipment designers in Atlas.”

“Oh, what, and I guess Ember Cecilia is just a couple of cheap bracelets?” Yang complained lightly.

“The latch-work is quite refined, but latch-work has been around since the great war,” Weiss replied. “Nothing revolutionary, to be honest. Gambol Shroud is an impressive piece of engineering, but it’s quite… manual, where most soldiers would need something that worked reliably on its own. And as much as I like the balance of Myrtenaster, a rotary dust chamber in the hilt of a rapier is not exactly revolutionary.”

She patted Crescent Rose gently. “This thing, though… it’s got elements of advanced latch-work, automatic rotary control, a powerful potential at long and short range… I wouldn’t say it’s something I would give an army, it’s far too complex and requires too great a skill, but the design is clearly the work of a genius in her field.”

Ruby squeaked happily, wrapping an arm around her.

“…well, this has been… interesting,” Blake allowed. “I suppose, if nothing else, we’ve learned about our fighting styles.”

“Hey, yeah, team bonding!”

“Glad to be of assistance,” Weiss deadpanned. “Now then, I think we still have that assignment for Professor Port to finish?”

 


	3. Part 3

Why did Professor Port have a boarbatusk in a cage?

It didn’t matter, Weiss supposed, all that mattered was having a chance to prove herself. She’d known that Yang, at the least, was trying to step delicately around her after the reveal, which given how loudly her footsteps reverberated was somewhat ironic. Ruby’s affections were… well, she probably had her heart in the right place, but sometimes it felt as if she was being smothered.

Blake, ironically enough, was the least restricting. If anything, she went in the other direction, not quite openly voicing her distaste for Weiss’s ability. That was to be expected, of course, given their situation; Weiss had deigned not to respond to the undertone jabs, especially since she suspected nobody else could hear them.

The point was, the team didn’t think she could make the cut. That somehow being unable to see Grimm made her less able to kill them, that somehow because she needed special books she was less… educated. Oh, they most certainly humored her, Ruby especially, but she could sense it in their voices, the way Yang would dodge around words like ‘see’ or ‘look’, or how Blake would very deliberately twist a page in her book as she flipped it so it made a little flapping sound–it had to be deliberate, there were far quieter ways to read.

Ruby never said anything–of course–but she was always just one step ahead. Opening doors, awkwardly nudging people out of her way, as though not being able to see them somehow meant Weiss couldn’t make her way around the world without help. She’d left  _that_  issue behind her years ago, being treated this way now was an annoying reminder.

So, when Port had asked if anybody here had the courage and bravery and honor that a Huntress needed, she had risen her hand right up and taken the challenge. And now here she was, in front of all her schoolmates, in front of her team, Myrtenaster at the ready.

Weiss Schnee took a breath, facing the deep grumble of the monster. She would prove her worth here. There was not any other choice.

A sharp clang, and the creature snarled forward–fast, too fast! She jumped aside, spinning around–the tip of Myrtenaster skipped across bone plating with a series of metallic pings. Right, she had the size of the thing in her mind, and as it snorted and turned she prepared herself for the second strike–

“It’s rolling!” Yang shouted.

Weiss triggered her semblance and rolled her eyes. “Yes, I  _noticed_.” That revving was a rather distinctive sound, after all.

The creature bounced off her glyph, skidding back. Weiss spun Myrtenaster’s chambers, thumbing it to a stop when a particular note sung out, and quickly slashed a lance of ice to stop the oncoming boarbatusk. Unfortunately, from the shattering sound, she apparently missed–

“On your left! I mean, my–”

She swung left, hit nothing, and twirled just in time to deflect a sharp set of teeth. “I’ve  _got_  this, Yang!”

“Uh, yeah! You totally do!”

Her hand gripped the blade as she braced herself against the Grimm’s pushback. Damn, damn, DAMN that insufferable woman! If it hadn’t been for her distraction she could have easily avoided this assault. Her thumb twitched through the chambers again, and a quick blast of fire at where she hoped the eyes were set the creature back a ways, long enough to–

“Its underside doesn’t have any armor, you can totally–”

“STOP HELPING ME!”

Weiss ignored the dismayed squeak, focusing on the growl of the boarbatusk pacing around. She couldn’t afford to look weak here, not in front of all her peers and her team. Her eyes narrowed as she flicked the chambers under her thumb, stopping just as the creature charged her. A blast of gravity dust combined with her semblance knocked the creature into the air, and she swung her blade towards its surprised squeal. The familiar feeling of Myrtenaster impaling stygian flesh, the peculiar resistance that came as she twisted and pushed the creature down, should have given her satisfaction.

But somehow, even as she withdrew her sword, she could not find it in herself to feel anything but irritation.

* * *

The reverberating footsteps of her teammate rushed after her as she stormed out of the classroom, joined by the billowing of her sister and, reluctantly, the clicking heels of her partner. “Weiss! What’s wrong? I mean, I think you did pretty good back there–”

“Pretty good. Those are the words you’re going to be using.”

“Okay, fine, you did great–”

“I don’t want your praise,” Weiss snapped, “and I don’t want your pity either!”

“Uh… what?”

“You want me to spell it out, Yang Xiao Long? Fine. I can’t see, but that doesn’t mean I need other people constantly shouting directions from the sidelines. As a matter of fact, your so-called ‘advice’ was distracting at best and undermining at the worst! I  _should_  have been able to handle that Boarbatusk in a matter of moments, but with you constantly trying to hold my hand I had to refocus again and again and again, practically embarrassing myself in front of everyone!”

“…oh. I didn’t mean to–”

“And you.”

The surprised squeak confirmed who Weiss was pointing at. Good.

“You are supposed to be the team leader. That means when your sister goes overboard, you have to reign her in! I don’t know what you were trying to do back there, but whatever it was clearly wasn’t good enough. I thought you, of all people, would understand why I needed to show my skills back there, but you kept–you let her keep putting me down like some sort of child! She might be your older sister, but she is also your subordinate!”

Ruby squeaked in dismay.

“As for you, Blake…” Weiss took a breath. “…you were surprisingly well behaved. Thank you.”

“…you’re… welcome?”

“Look, Weiss–”

“I don’t want to hear it, Yang.”

“I just–”

“I am going to go down to the sparring range,” Weiss announced coldly. “I will be back in the dorm before curfew. You  _needn’t_ ,” she spat, “worry about me.”

She spun around and stalked off, leaving the others behind.

* * *

It hadn’t occurred to Weiss before how difficult it would be to find a partner for sparring without her team. Apparently, the majority of her classmates did not think themselves worthy of facing a Schnee… that, or they were too busy with their own things. Even Pyrrha Nikos didn’t sound all that eager to go a bout, which seemed odd to Weiss–she was the Mistral champion, after all. Something about her tone sounded distracted, especially when her partner… something Arc, she remembered, seemed to stumble  _again_.

Maybe he was ill. That could explain the discrepancy in his combat ability.

So it was that Weiss was left merely practicing stances, running through drills. Keeping herself fit was, of course, as useful a task as actual fighting, but it did little to work on her instincts, her reactions. She didn’t let her frustration show, though; it would not be fitting.

“Ah… excuse me?”

Weiss brought her sword up in form. “I’m sorry, but unless you’re looking to spar with me I don’t think I have time for you.”

“I just thought I should point out there are holographic opponents, if you’d like to take them.”

“I prefer foes I can feel,” Weiss excused coolly. She turned to the voice. “It’s a personal thing.”

For a moment, whoever had been addressing her remained silent.

“…You know, it’s entirely possible that the Grimm could knock your sword away. If you’d like, I could run you through some unarmed combat techniques.”

Weiss tilted her head down toward her sword. “…that sounds reasonable. Might I know the name of my mentor?”

“I’m Velvet Scarletina. Here, why don’t we put the sword down on this bench here…”

“Velvet Scarletina?” Weiss walked toward her voice, cautiously lowering Myrtenaster’s tip till she felt it bump against the bench. “I don’t recall hearing your name at initiation.”

“I’m an upperclassman,” Velvet explained. “Well, for the most part. I, ah, didn’t get a formal education growing up, so I have been held back in some classes–history, economics, that sort of thing. I think we might actually share a history class…”

“I see. Well, you’re no doubt aware of my own heritage.” Weiss walked back to the sparring ring. “Perhaps I could return your training with assistance in your economic studies?”

“…Maybe,” Velvet conceded. Her feet seemed to… pop, faint whuffs of air releasing every time she took a step. “Now then… one of the key details to unarmed combat is understanding your own balance.”

“I used to do some ice skating,” Weiss mused, raising her fists as she took a wide stance.

“In that case,  _that_  is not the stance you want.”

“Oh?”

A hand gently grabbed her wrist. “Boxing is good if you’re a bracer–that is, if you’re used to holding yourself back with your legs. It requires some stiff body muscles–arm strength does play into it, but only aggressively, not defensively.” Velvet lowered her arms out a bit. “If you’re more used to skating, you’re more used to bending–your knees, your spine, all that. You’ll want to roll  _with_  the punches, take the blow and flow out of it, which means you’ll want to be ready to dodge and twist.”

Weiss nodded, shifting one foot forward. “So, a more adaptable opening stance.”

“Yes. Adaptability in anything is key, of course.”

“Of course.”

“I certainly had to adapt to some of my teammates.” Velvet’s popping footsteps moved to in front of Weiss. “Now, I’m usually a kicker, so I’m going to come at you with punches–I want to teach you how to react without actually hurting you.”

“We do have aura.”

“Aura can run out. Think fast!”

The first blow came to her shoulder, and seconds later the second was pushed aside by her arm.

“Good, that’s a start. All strikes have a direction, and opposing the power in that direction only works if you have more power. But the more power goes one way, the less it can resist against a perpendicular motion.”

“So, redirect instead of direct confrontation.”

“Yes. Of course, you have to look out for feinting.” A whisk of air brushed past Weiss’s shoulder before suddenly turning toward her stomach.

“Ooof!”

“Yeah, if the strike changes direction, you have to change with it.”

“Got it,” Weiss grunted, pulling herself up. “Adaptability.”

“Yes… important.” Velvet’s footsteps popped around the sparring ring, and Weiss cautiously countercircled. “Is Beacon your first time dorming with others?”

“I used to go to a boarding school,” Weiss replied warily.

“Lucky you. I’d never shared a bedroom outside family before coming here.” A punch, this time to the waist, knocking Weiss back a bit. “Remember, your whole body has to bend.”

Weiss nodded, quickly regaining her balance. “So I take it having a team was a bit of an adjustment.”

“Quite a bit. My partner, Yatsuhashi, he’s taller then Ozpin–very kind, but large men can be a touch intimidating. I was very quiet around him for the first few weeks.” This time, Weiss was able to grab the oncoming fist and twist it up. “Okay, that works because I’m not a puncher. Against most fighters and Grimm that’s a dangerous and crazy move, understand?”

“Well, yes. Bone spikes and all that.” Weiss released her grip. “But I got one on you.”

“Yes. Oh, but Yatsuhashi was nothing on our team leader, Coco. She demanded that we always presented our best, both in appearance and technique. I’ll admit I was terrified when I had to tell her I’d failed history, but… she understood it, and she’s even helping me catch up on what I don’t know.”

Weiss stumbled back when a fist hit her face. “Ow!”

“You need to be able to split your focus. Yes, I’m talking about my team, but you should also be aware of my own motions and the environment around you.”

“You are remarkably swift,” Weiss grumbled, shaking her head. On a whim she chopped her hand toward Velvet; her efforts were rewarded with a thunk against something metal, and she hissed in pain.

“Little too wide there, you were telegraphing and I caught you on my bracer. Maybe I should get Fox down here to teach you, he’s very good at keeping up with his opponents… then again, he’s a bit difficult to communicate with.”

“Really?”

“I still don’t quite know his whole story,” Velvet admitted. “I mean, he’s from Vacuo, and he’s covered in scars, and he’s blind–”

Weiss blinked.

“–but he hasn’t told us anything. I don’t blame him–especially since his tongue’s been cut out.” The girl sighed. “Honestly, my going theory is he’s an escaped slave or gladiator from some trafficking ring or other.”

“…That does sound rather, ah… intense.”

“Oh, intense is one way to put it. For somebody so quiet, he can be quite… attention-grabbing. In fact, he was at first, always trying to show us all that he wasn’t… broken. That he didn’t need our help. It took a while for us to adjust to that idea, Coco especially. In retrospect, I think that he made it harder on himself then he had to.”

Weiss tilted her head warily. “Oh?”

“I remember on one of our training missions, he went and fought an Ursa Major–he was actually doing pretty well, but he didn’t tell Coco where he was going. She was handling a few creeps, and a beowolf snuck up behind her and… well. Luckily Professor Peach was able to prevent the worst from happening. Coco really laid into Fox after that–we were a team, after all, and him going all lone wolf wouldn’t help anyone.”

“Did… things change after that?”

Velvet hummed. “Well, yes. Fox started to work with us, became more open about his issues. We had something to focus on beyond the general blind and mute problems, and we let him do what he was good at. And with him being more open, we, in turn, felt more comfortable sharing our shortcomings… You know, I think we’ve done enough sparring for the moment.”

Weiss crossed her arms. “I’m sure I could take more.”

“Mmm, yes. But a faunus  _kicking_  the tar out of the Schnee heiress could lead to some unwelcome attention for me.”

“Of… course.” Weiss walked over to Myrtenaster, picking it up and gently setting it against her hip. “I apologize, I usually don’t consider such things.”

“Well, a rabbit like me has to consider what risks she can take.”

“I’m sure your legs give you quite the advantage.”

Velvet chuckled. “My trait isn’t enhanced leg power.”

“Of course, what a ridiculous assumption on my part–”

“It’s the extra ears. Very easy to… ah, notice.”

Weiss shut her eyes. “So… you figured it out.”

“Figured what out?” Velvet asked innocently. “Oh, would you  _look_  at the time, it’s almost curfew. I think you have some people you need to talk to.”

“…yes, I… probably do.” The heiress gave her a small curtsy. “Thank you for your advice, miss Scarletina. I shall think over it thoroughly.”

“Always happy to help. After all, we all need help sometimes, and what goes around comes around.”

Her popping footsteps trailed away, leaving Weiss to consider the sounds of the slowly emptying room.

* * *

Weiss took the door handle in her grasp, steadying herself for a moment. With only a touch of trepidation, she opened it and stepped into her dorm room.

“Weiss!” Yang quickly made her way over, her reverberating footsteps stopping just short of her. “Look, about earlier, you were totally right about how I was treating you, and I–”

“Flying Grimm.”

“…what?”

“I can hear the wingbeats of most birds, unless they’re too small or they’re owls. But whatever Grimm are made of, it sort of… flows through the air. So if they’re flying, I can’t hear them–unless they’re screeching or roaring. So, I’ll need you all to cover the flying Grimm for me, okay?”

“…right. Flying Grimm.” Yang clapped her hands together. “I can do that–we can do that, right Blake?”

“I’m good with covering the skies,” Blake managed. “What brought this on?”

“We are… supposed to be a team,” Weiss said. “And while that means we shouldn’t step on each other’s toes, it also means we should… understand each other, cover each other’s weaknesses. As much as I hate to admit it, there are some things I can’t do–which is why I strive to be the best at what I  _can_  do. And, perhaps, I put too much pressure on myself, to the detriment of any kind of communication.”

A billowing sound preceded a tight hug. Weiss stiffened for a moment… before rolling her eyes and patting Ruby’s head. “It’s alright, Ruby, I… was more mad at myself than I was mad at you.” Her eyes narrowed. “Although I still say my critique of Yang’s actions was entirely valid.”

“Hey, I’m overprotective. It’s not something that just goes away. I mean, up until four years ago I was super crazy about keeping Ruby safe–”

Ruby squeaked, one hand raising up.

“…no, it was  _four_  years! That’s when you had your freakout and chewed me out on this!”

Ruby squeaked again, tapping Weiss’s shoulder three times.

“Okay, fine, three to four years.” Yang sighed. “My point is, it’s an issue for me sometimes, but… I’m willing to work on it. I don’t want to be smothering, I just… you know… big sister instincts.”

“Well, fortunately for you, I already have a big sister, and she has done quite well in ensuring I can handle myself.” Weiss smiled. “But… I do appreciate your effort and concern. Just tone it down a touch, alright?”

“Will do.”

“…Ruby?” Weiss cleared her throat. “Do you mind letting me go so I can change into my nightclothes?”

Ruby squeaked, backing off. Yang chuckled. “Well, with that bit of drama out of the way, maybe things will become easier.”

“Hardly. I quite suspect there will be a number of further challenges.” Weiss smirked. “And that we shall rise to the occasion.”

“Very nice sentiment,” Blake deadpanned, “but maybe we should get some sleep first.”

 


	4. Part 4

“So there we were, in the middle of the night!”

“It was day.”

“We were  _surrounded_  by Ursai!”

“They were Beowolves.

“DOZENS of them!”

“Two of ‘em.”

“But they were no match for us. And in the end, Ren and I took ‘em down and made a boatload of lien selling Ursa rugs!”

“She’s been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now.”

Weiss frowned. “Usually, recurring dreams are… derived from some sort of personal experience. A trauma, an important event… Has she ever had this dream before?”

The softer voice–Ren, she recalled–sighed deeply. “Not… this particular dream, no.”

“It might just be something Nora ate,” said another voice, chuckling nervously. Arc, Arc, first name… what was his first name again?

“Jaune?” Pyrrha’s voice held an unusual amount of caution. “Are you okay?”

“What? Yeah, I’m okay, why would I not be okay?”

“You’re a teenage boy sitting at a table with seven attractive women in the right age range,” Weiss deadpanned.

“Seven?”

“I’m not a woman,” Ren clarified.

“O…oh.” Weiss scrambled for an excuse. “I apologize, I, uh–”

“No, it happens sometimes,” Ren assured her. “The hair and all.”

“You  _are_  very pretty,” Nora mused. “I mean, aesthetically. You have a very pretty aesthetic. Which, I mean, is something I have noticed, since we’ve grown up together and all–”

“We can all agree that Ren rocks the fancy Mistral style,” Yang interjected, “and that Weiss was just blown away by how well he pulls it off.”

“Yes.” Weiss nodded, giving a quick thankful nod towards her. “I do apologize if I made you uncomfortable in any way.”

“Did you really think he sounded like a girl?” Blake muttered just under her breath.

“A deep-voiced one, yes,” Weiss replied just as quietly. “It’s in his cadence.” She smirked a bit when the other girl inhaled sharply–

–but before Blake could say anything, a cry of pain came from another table.

“I told you it was real!”

“Please stop…”

“Hahaha, what a  _freak!”_

Pyrrha gave a furious sigh as a series of popping footsteps ran away. “Atrocious. I can’t  _stand_  people like him.”

“He’s not the only one,” Blake growled.

“It must be hard to be a Faunus,” Yang mused sadly.

Weiss slammed her hands into the table and stood. “I have something to attend to, if you’ll all excuse me…”

She marched out of the cafeteria, following the popping footsteps down the hall until she heard a set of shuddering breaths. Steeling herself, she reached out, trying to gently reach the source.

“Wha-? Oh, Weiss. What are you–?”

“I was aiming for your shoulder,” Weiss explained. “How far off am I?”

“You’re not  _quite_  groping my… uh…” Velvet awkwardly took the hand and placed it a small distance higher. “Why are you trying to grab my shoulder?”

“I wanted to ask… is anything wrong?”

“Oh, not… not anything that hasn’t been wrong all my life,” Velvet assured her.

“Really? Because I think what happened back there could have gone down a lot differently.” Her grip tightened. “You’re an upperclassman and Cardin is a first-year! You should have taught him to respect a more experienced huntress.”

“I’ve been dealing with immature children pulling at my ears since as long as I can remember.”

“Children will never mature if they are not disciplined properly.”

“If I fought him in there, I’d be making a scene. I could even be accused of being with the White Fang!”

Weiss nodded, pulling her hand off. “You have a point… very well then.” She spun around. “I suppose it falls to me to see proper justice done.”

“Weiss, wait–”

A set of clicking footsteps rounded the corner, swiftly followed by reverberations and the sound of billowing cloth. “Weiss Schnee, don’t you dare–!”

“–challenge Cardin Winchester to a duel of honor?”

“I… what?” Blake asked, nonplussed.

“You saw how he treated Velvet,” Weiss stated firmly. “I think we can agree that letting that go unpunished would be in very poor taste.”

“I would really rather this not blow up into a school-wide drama,” Velvet said cautiously.

Weiss sighed. “If you insist, I can claim to be challenging him because he is a pathetic excuse for a Huntsman. He uses a mace, right?”

“Well, kind of,” Yang agreed hesitantly. “It’s more a set of flanged blades around empty air, and there’s a dust crystal set in the center–”

“So you… you’re okay with Velvet,” Blake clarified, slowly.

Weiss pinched her brow. “For the love of…  _yes_ , I am perfectly fine with Faunus in general, and I am aware of the unfortunate systematic oppression that you suffer, and I know my father has led the company down–”

“Wait, hold on, back up.” Yang’s voice was tinged with confusion. “What do you mean ‘that  _you_  suffer’?”

“I… should think it obvious.”

“…The only thing I can think of that would make sense is you saying Blake’s a faunus.”

“Well, she is,” Weiss pointed out. “And, as I was saying, I would be as willing to defend her honor as–”

_“How the hell did you know that?!”_

Weiss blinked, turning to Blake. “You confirmed the approach of the Grimm during initiation. My own hearing increased in sensitivity after I lost my vision, and I discovered that faunus with an extra pair of ears were the only ones that matched my newfound audio acuity. I may be blind, but I am not stupid.”

An uncomfortable silence seemed to descend.

“…Why is everyone so shocked?” Weiss demanded. “I don’t know what the issue is here, I’m fine with Blake being a faunus, is that such a surprise?”

"She’s always wearing a bow,” Yang explained, almost distantly. “Her ears must be… you… Blake, why did you hide this from us?”

“I…”

“Were you… afraid of us?” Yang continued, her voice trembling. “Weiss I could understand but… were you afraid of… of  _me?”_

“I… I, I just–”

“I think,” Velvet interjected firmly, “that this conversation should happen in your dorm room. And that you shouldn’t judge her for not… revealing certain details about her heritage.” She coughed.”You all saw what happened in the cafeteria. I guarantee it is not the worst thing out there.”

“…My offer to duel Cardin still stands,” Weiss pointed out.

“I think you’d be better served talking to your team now. I appreciate the thought, but… I have my own team. And they do support me, no matter what.”

“…of course, miss Scarletina.” Weiss took a breath and, slowly, let it out. “Ruby? If… you would lead us home?”

After a moment, a hand reached out and grabbed her arm gently.

* * *

Weiss sat down on the edge of her bed, taking a slow breath. “So… let me start off by saying that, yes, there was a period in my life where I bought into the idea that faunus were… not  _inherently_  inferior, but that they had not made strides in society primarily due to their own willful incompetence and negligence. This is a mindset that I have since grown out of, and one I am ashamed to admit ever entertaining… though if I am allowed to defend myself, I must point out that I was a child who didn’t think to question her beliefs until after…”

She trailed a quiet finger over her eyes.

“You, uh… weren’t always blind?” Yang asked.

“No, I was once as spoiled a child of wealth as you can imagine. It was only after I lost my vision that… well…” Weiss sighed. “I will not claim the treatment of the faunus is entirely identical to the treatment of the blind, but more and more I noticed… assumptions. The idea that because I was blind, I could not be literate, or because someone was a faunus they could not work with delicate machinery. Little things, limitations defined by others… I  _was_  treated differently, even by those who loved me, because of my condition. Ironically, it was the faunus who continued to act the same around me–assuming I was an entitled brat and only giving me as much respect as they had to in polite society.”

She considered. “Well, I assume it was the faunus, anyway. It could just have been the poor of Atlas in general… I can’t actually tell the two races apart, most traits are not immediately obvious.” A dry chuckle escaped her lips. “Poetic justice, right? The oppressor can no longer oppress, because she doesn’t know human from faunus.”

Ruby took her hand and started to pet it gently.

“My point is… I realize your identity as a faunus is important to you and that you have suffered because of it. I cannot undo whatever it is you have been through. All I can say is… I guess, to me, you’re still Blake Belladonna, and I will not treat you in any manner different from how I would treat any of my friends.”

“…And…” Blake hesitated. “…and… how do you feel about… the White Fang?”

Weiss’s fingers tightened around Ruby’s hand.

“…When I was twelve years old,” she said, forcing her tone not to waver, “a group of armed thugs burst into the diner my sister and I were eating at. Apparently, the owner was leaving his faunus workers underpaid to a point of starvation. At the time my sister had only just joined Atlas Academy, and so, of course, she did the reasonable thing and told me to hide under the table while she… went against ten, fifteen enemies. I, of course, realized that one against many was not good odds. And I also noticed that the people that were attacking used… Dust weaponry.”

Yang took a sharp breath. “You noticed because you  _saw_  it.”

“Yes. And being the heiress to the SDC at the time, I had learned… quite a bit about Dust. So, being the overconfident rich girl I was, I rushed out, grabbed at one of the thugs, and… triggered my aura, intent on making it explode in his hand.” Weiss shook her head. “And it exploded, alright. The last thing I can remember ever seeing was his face–his angry, confused, scaly face–and then I woke up three days later to find my retinas had been burned out.”

She turned to where Blake’s voice had come from, voice firm. “So, yes, it is because of the White Fang that I am blind. I have a very negative opinion of the organization, one which I know is shared even by some faunus I have discussed the issue with. I view them as a cult that preys upon the desperate, twists their need to better their situation, and makes innocent victims into malicious killers.” Her voice hitched for a moment. “You… you’re not with them… are you?”

For a moment there was silence.

“…They weren’t always like that,” Blake mumbled. “There… was a time where they were just a particularly cohesive protest group. They… we… we would go up, with marches and… and it never worked. And then… well, the leadership changed and… the new methods were horrible, but they worked. More rights for faunus, more respect… a respect born out of fear though. I…”

She swallowed.

“…I’ve never… killed. Stolen, sabotaged, but… when I was told to just… leave the train workers to be blown up by a bomb, I… I cut the links and… I came to Beacon. So… no, I guess I’m not with the White Fang anymore.” A small sigh emerged. “I’ve been with them my whole life, through the good and the bad, but this… this is… the first time I’m not acting with them.”

Weiss shut her eyes, taking a long, slow breath. Then, very slowly, she let it out.

“…So. I’m blind, Ruby’s mute, and you’re… you have a checkered past.” She turned toward Yang’s breathing. “How about you, do you have anything we should be worried about?”

“…do abandonment issues and an extreme guilt complex count?” Yang replied, her tone midway between joking and nervous.

Ruby squeaked somberly.

“I know, you’ve forgiven me, it’s just…” She paused. “…Well, everyone else has shared their story. Ruby, do you mind if I…?”

The hand around Weiss’s clutched tightly for a moment… only a moment, so brief Weiss suspected she was the only one to have noticed, before Ruby let out a squeak of affirmation.

“…Okay, so…” Yang took a breath. “Summer Rose was, basically, supermom. Baker of cookies, slayer of Grimm, she loved us both and we, well, we adored her. And, one day, when we were very young, she went out on a mission and never came back. Dad was devastated, of course–I don’t blame him,” she reassured everyone quickly. “I don’t think he quite thought about what he was saying when he… let slip that Summer was his second wife. That my mother had… walked out, before I even could remember her.”

Weiss bit her lip. “Yang, I–”

“And hey, I was a kid, right? Even with that information, what could a kid do? Ask for stories, maybe go down to the civic department and try to look up more about their lost mother… I don’t think he thought I would ever do anything like what I actually did.” Yang chuckled, a sound with no mirth. “See, I got it in my head that the reason everyone was so sad was that we were missing a mom. And hey, there was a backup mom out there somewhere–and maybe if  _I_  wasn’t good enough for her, Ruby would be. So being the brilliant little girl I was, I bundled up my sister in a red wagon, walked out on an epic quest to find my missing mother, and the Grimm. Do not care. How old you are.”

Blake inhaled sharply. “…Yang–”

“Our uncle Qrow, thank the gods, figured out what was going on. He’d been following us, but–not quite close enough. There were Beowolves, a couple of Ursai, I heard him charging in and then… this screech of metal, and I turned around and… Ruby was, was just spurting blood. From right here–uh, Weiss, I know you can’t see where I’m gesturing but–”

Ruby, slowly, took Weiss’s hand and placed it under her blouse, just beneath her throat, letting her feel the mildly rough patch just above her heaving chest.

“…yeah. She usually wears… stuff that covers that.” Yang sighed. “And then there’s this two-week blank period. I don’t know if I blacked out or repressed the memories… Uncle Qrow says I went feral, somehow figured out how to trigger my semblance, started tearing apart Grimm with my bare hands, I couldn’t even recognize him so he had to pump me with some sedative. Apparently, I was a menace at the hospital, I broke a nurse’s arm before they got me back into a resting coma… I don’t remember any of that. All I know is one minute, I see my four-year-old sister gushing blood, and the next it’s two weeks later and my dad is saying that she’ll live, but she can never talk again.”

“And this… this all happened when you were six…?” Blake clarified hesitantly.

“Yep. So! Physically, I’m the tip-top cream of the crop, guys and gals both swoon when I walk by. And every time any one of you spars somebody, I have to constantly remind myself that you can handle it and I don’t… don’t have to rip anyone’s arms out…” She let out a shuddering breath. “I broke a woman’s arm when I was six, and I don’t remember it. You… you were right to be scared of me, Blake, just… not because of your ears…”

She trailed off.

Weiss shook her head. “…would you look at us. A quartet of shattered souls, all throwing themselves at the Grimm to escape this broken world–”

A palm hit the back of her head with the force of an infuriated parrot.

“OW! Ruby, what–?”

Ruby squeaked authoritatively, squeezing her hand tightly. She tapped it twice, paused, and then let out another squeak.

“Okay, okay!” Yang conceded. “I’ll translate what you sign for all of us.”

A final, firm squeak preceded Ruby finally releasing Weiss’s hand.

“…we are not broken souls,” Yang began hesitantly. “We are students of Beacon, and therefore beacons ourselves. Yes, we have experienced the darkness of the world, all of us personally affected in permanent ways. Every day, the creatures of Grimm slaughter innocent travelers, raze villages to the ground, and set their claws against our kingdoms. But the fact is, we have kingdoms. We have our homes, our arts, our technology… and each other. For all their effort, the greatest darkness of our world cannot tear us down, and for all… for all that we have been put through, we still stand ready to protect. I cannot speak to those I love, Weiss cannot see things others can, Blake cannot show herself to the masses, and Yang… Yang is  _totally_  a badass boxer who everyone can trust–”

Ruby squeaked in warning.

“…and Yang cannot spend more than six hours alone. So, yes, we are not the paragons of legend. But we are capable, and willing, and each of us chose not to let our traumas and past bind us. We are here to become the very defenders of our lives. We are here so that the pains we have each suffered will never be inflicted on others. We are here to grow, and to heal, and to support each other in supporting the world. I won’t say the pain is in the past–I feel it every day, with every breath I take. But I will say that the pain does not constrain me, or control me–no, it drives me to become more than I am. So as the leader of team RWBY, I have one command to give to all of us–not to put away our pasts, or to say that our traumas do not affect us to this day, but to find new purpose–to be new people, better people, every day we wake. To train, and to learn, and to care. That starts with trust–trust that we can become better, trust that we can help each other, trust that we will work together. We are not broken souls. We are students of Beacon Academy. We are team RWBY, and one day we will be Huntresses, working together to… shine a light against the darkness.”

Yang’s voice fell quiet as Ruby, once more, gripped Weiss’s hand.

“…And somehow, you manage to surprise me even more,” she murmured, clasping back. “I truly wish….”

Her voice trailed off for a moment.

“…Blake.”

The other mattress audibly jolted.

“I… will not lie, I am… a little bit frightened of you, now. Not because of your ears, but your past with the Fang. That said…” Weiss took a breath. “The simple fact of the matter is that in the time I have known you, you have only groused about my faults under your breath, and even proven willing to give me a chance. And you admitted to leaving when asked to… my point is, I am willing to work toward overcoming my own feelings, and I will not spread knowledge of your heritage without permission.”

“…I… guess that’s… fair.” Blake let out a breath. “And… I guess you did go see if Velvet was alright… I didn’t expect you to defend a random faunus.”

Weiss let her eyes fall downward. “…I have… met Velvet previously. She… gave me some rather good advice. I’m not… sure I would have intervened otherwise.”

“…better than me,” Yang mumbled. “I just said it had to suck and didn’t think to do anything about it.”

“Then we’ll just have to come up with a plan for next time it happens,” Weiss declared. “After all, our team leader did just give us an order to improve every day.”

Ruby squeaked firmly, her hand tightening around Weiss’s.

“Yeah. Uh… Blake, I know it… might be weird, but if you can tell me what you think would help out–”

“I… yes. I can do that.”

“And while you two work that out,” Weiss said, “I think me and Ruby will work on our communication skills. As gifted an orator as she is, having to rely on you to translate is going to be problematic.”

Ruby let out a questioning squeak.

Weiss turned to her with a smile. “Don’t worry. I think I’ve got a good idea of where to start.”

 


	5. Part 5

“Why is there a team KOFI  _and_  a team CFVY?” Weiss grumbled as they walked down the corridor. “It’s incredibly confusing!”

Ruby squeaked from beside her.

“I mean, yes, there’s only a limited number of ways to arrange letters in order to make a color-related sounding acronym, but you’d think there would be more oversight.” She shrugged. “Although the monetary exchange they’re running is certainly interesting, I might have to check on that after we’re done here. Seventy-three, seventy-four… six seventy-five.”

Ruby clapped politely.

“What? What are you clapping about?”

People were never entirely quiet, there was breathing and the rustle of cloth. Interpreting their silences was something of an art form–Weiss had discovered that there were at least three different kinds of awkward silence. This one was accompanied with small rustles of cloth–the embarrassed ‘oh, nothing, never mind’ kind of awkward where somebody wanted to pretend that what happened had not just happened. Why would…?

She sighed. “Ruby, I am perfectly capable of navigating new spaces without getting entirely lost. Finding a door is not an incredible accomplishment for me after all this time.”

Ruby took her wrist and, gently, traced a few letters on the back of her hand. S O R R Y…

“It’s fine, I get it. There are a lot of doors, I suppose it’s hard enough to find the right one  _with_  functioning eyes.” She turned toward the door, raising her hand. “Now, let me do… the…”

She paused.

“…the, uh, explaining.”

Ruby squeaked teasingly.

“Yes, fine, I can make that sort of mistake too, ha ha.” Weiss knocked on the door firmly.

Heavy footsteps preceded the door ratcheting open. “Hello?”

“Ah, hello. This is team CFVY’s dorm, yes?”

“Weiss, hello!” Velvet stood up. “Yes, it’s our dorm. Yatsu, let them in, they’re friends of mine.”

The heavy footsteps moved aside, allowing Ruby and Weiss to step in. “If you say so…”

“I met Weiss on the sparring range, and her team ran into me later. You didn’t have any trouble finding us, did you?”

“Just a bit,” Weiss admitted. “We were directed to room six hundred forty-three first.”

“Ah, team KOFI. Fun people, if a little… intense. I think Coco dated one of them for a bit–”

“It was not dating,” objected a feminine voice. “It was mutual clothes shopping.”

The man who’d opened the door let out a deep chuckle. “Of course, entirely nonromantic.”

“Honestly, you two… anyway. Weiss, was it?”

“Yes. Weiss Schnee. This is my partner and team leader, Ruby Rose.”

Ruby squeaked cheerily.

There was another awkward pause. This one was not accompanied by any significant sound–clearly, team CFVY was waiting for something.

“We, ah, wished to ask for your advice in regards to our situation.”

“What situation?”

“Ah,” Velvet cleared her throat, “I didn’t… tell them, Weiss. I didn’t think it would be my place.”

“I thank you for your discretion, then.” Weiss cleared her throat. “Five years ago, I lost the use of my vision. And, as it turns out, Ruby has been incapable of speech since an incident in her childhood.”

There was a creaking sound from her right. A desk chair, probably. She turned toward it, schooling her face.

“As you can imagine, this has led to some communication issues between us–and if we are unable to coordinate during combat, our team capability and cohesion will almost certainly suffer. I, ah, understand a member of your team works under similar limitations and was hoping to ask how they circumvented those issues.”

Coco sighed. “What did you tell her, Velvet?”

“Look, she stormed away from the rest of her team, alright? Once I figured out she was blind I realized it was another Ursa incident in the making and stepped in to prevent it. I didn’t know Ruby was mute, I just thought she was quiet…” Velvet let out a breath. “Sorry, Fox, I should have let you know.”

A brief grunt came from the chair. And then, an odd mechanical series of clicks.

_chr-clk chr-clk-chr-chr chr-clk-chr chr-chr clk-clk-chr chr-chr-chr-chr clk rk chr-chr rk chr-clk-clk chr-chr chr-clk-chr-chr chr-clk-chr-chr rk chr-chr-chr-chr chr chr-clk-chr-chr chr-clk-clk-chr_

“Alright then.” Coco nodded. “That seems like a good place to start.”

Weiss frowned. “What does?”

“Before the CCT was fully established, there were other methods of long-distance communication,” Coco explained. “One particular code was based around timed flashing of lights, or beating of drums, in particular patterns. You only needed two basic symbols, short…”

_chr_

“…and long.”

_clk_

“I found it after a few weeks of research, and Fox figured a way to incorporate a clicker into his weapon. It took a bit for us all to memorize it, but now we have a fairly quick and reliable method of communication.”

_chr-chr-chr-clk chr chr-clk-chr-chr chr-chr-chr-clk chr clk rk chr-clk-chr-chr chr-chr clk-chr-clk chr chr-chr-chr rk clk clk-clk-clk rk chr-clk-chr-chr clk-clk-clk clk-clk-clk clk-chr-clk rk chr-clk clk rk clk-chr-clk-chr clk-clk-clk clk-chr-clk-chr clk-clk-clk chr-clk-clk-clk-clk-chr chr-chr-chr rk clk-chr-chr-chr chr-chr-clk clk clk_

“I do not!” Velvet shrieked over Yatsuhashi’s laughter. “I mean, I don’t… all the time, I mean, oh my gods…”

“I don’t blame you,” Coco commented slyly.

Weiss held up a finger. “Ah… what did Fox just say?”

“Weeeeeeell–”

“Nevermind that!” Velvet interjected quickly. “The point is there’s a quick and easy click language you can learn to communicate better, and Coco can lend you the book–”

“Do you know the book title?” Weiss asked. “I’d have to order a version that has been, ah, specialized for my condition.”

“Historical Encryption,” Coco replied. “Here, hold on, I can still give you my copy…”

“But I won’t be able to read it.”

“But your team will be able to read it to you. No better method of learning than learning together.” A book was put into her hands. “Communication and trust are intertwined, after all. And believe me, it’s better to practice this together.”

Weiss sighed. “I suppose you have a point. Thank you for your assistance, miss Coco.” She cleared her throat. “Would you mind terribly if… if I asked you to keep the reason for our visit to yourselves?”

“…Of course not. The rumor mill can be vicious. As far as anybody else is concerned, you came here to talk to Velvet.”

“Speaking of, she has told you about the incident in the cafeteria right?”

Velvet groaned. “Are you really bringing that up, Weiss?”

“I’m just saying, if I’m not allowed to challenge Cardin to a duel of honor, maybe one of your teammates could step up.”

“Cardin…” Yatsuhashi frowned. “He’s the leader of team CRDL, right? What did he do?”

“He demonstrated that he has yet to mature beyond the state of ‘schoolyard bully’ and therefore requires some serious discipline,” Weiss stated.

Now  _this_  awkward silence was accompanied by sharp intakes of breath, the sound of hands clutching at whatever was nearby. This was the silence of pure and utter disbelief.

“…he just tugged on my ears,” Velvet mumbled under her breath.

“And insulted you alongside his minions,” Weiss pointed out. “I respect you trying to keep a first year out of trouble, but sometimes we need to get into it to understand why we should stay out of it.”

Ruby squeaked firmly in agreement.

“Well… thank you for bringing this to our attention,” Coco said, her tone not at all amused. “We will discuss,  _as a team,_  how to handle Winchester.”

“Of course. I leave it to your discretion.” Weiss curtseyed and walked out the door.

* * *

"So… I know Grimm are attracted to red tree sap,” Yang said, “but I’m not entirely sure why. Does anybody know why?”

“I heard a lot of theories back with…” Blake paused. “…with my old friends.”

“Yeah?”

“Some of them thought it was because the sap looked like blood. Others thought the Grimm were just… some sort of animal, attracted to the sweet smell.” Blake shook her head. “I never believed either of those.”

Ruby squeaked curiously.

“…It’s… there’s this old story I read once. A fairy tale, but it felt like one of those stories where the fantastic was added on over generations of retelling.” Blake cleared her throat. “Apparently, fairies created the Forever Fall forest, and ancient warriors would drink the sap to give themselves great power against the creatures of Grimm.”

“If that’s the case,” Weiss stated dryly, “Nora should be able to take on a full pack of Beowolves.”

“I don’t think it’s entirely real, but these trees are unique to this location, and… there are a few ruins.” A squeak of metal indicated Blake was done with her tap. “Remnant is old. A lot older than most people realize. We may have mapped out the surface land, but… there are occasional century-old Dust-tech devices that are as advanced as today’s found by wanderers.”

“Yeah, no offense Blake, but I’m pretty sure those are all just bandits stealing Huntsmen weapons and then not maintaining them.” Yang let out a thoughtful hum. “Still, you’re right about there being a lot of mostly unknown ancient civilizations. I mean, those ruins we fought the Deathstalker on, that was some impressive construction. Shame we blew it all up.”

Ruby squeaked in agreement.

“…so, is Jaune just being unusually quiet?” Weiss asked. “Because I can’t hear him.”

“What? Jaune is…” Yang paused. “Well, he  _was_  right there. Hey Pyrrha?”

“Yes?”

“Do you know where Jaune went?”

“…He’s probably with his team CRDL friends,” came the grumbling reply.

“Team CRDL?” Weiss frowned. “Why would he be friends with  _them?”_

Ruby squeaked sadly, tapping her shoulder in an alternating one-two finger pattern. M-A-C-H-O B-L-A-C-K-M-A-I-L…

“I don’t think friend is the right word,” Yang commented. “He seems so… I dunno, resigned. Not anything like he was during initiation. He was almost like Ruby, really.”

The indignant squeak Ruby let out made Weiss giggle.

“I…” Pyrrha cleared her throat. “I don’t mean to pry, but why do you do that? The squeaking thing, I mean…”

And yet again there was an awkward pause, one filled with rustling cloth.

“It’s none of my business, I’m sorry–”

“No, it’s fine,” Yang assured her. “Ruby can’t actually talk, she… has a serious childhood injury. The squeaking’s about as close as she can come.”

“Which does make her being our team leader slightly problematic,” Weiss interjected, “but we are becoming better at understanding each other. After all, helping overcome our shortcomings is what a team is for.”

“…If only Jaune understood that,” Pyrrha muttered, only just loud enough for Weiss to hear.

“Maybe you should talk with him,” Blake suggested. “As a team. It helped me with… some things, when these three sat me down for a talk.”

“Communication,” Yang agreed. “The foundation of any relationship!”

A roar resounded through the air, moments before the rapid footsteps of other students approached.

“Ursa! Ursa!”

“Of course it’s an Ursa!” Yang growled. “Wait, where’s your team leader?”

“It got Cardin!” the boy babbled. “It’s back there, it’s huge–”

“Ursa  _Major_ ,” Yang surmised.

Pyrrha gasped. “Jaune!”

Ruby squeaked authoritatively, grabbing Weiss’s wrist.

“She and you go for the Ursa while Yang and I get professor Goodwitch,” Blake subvocalized quickly.

Weiss nodded thankfully toward her. “Of course, good idea Ruby.”

“I’m coming too,” Pyrrha declared. “Ren, Nora, there could be more, watch over these…”

“Jerks?” Nora suggested. “Idiots? Cowards?”

“…just keep them alive,” Pyrrha commanded, a touch of humor in her dry tone.

“We’ll make sure of it,” Ren promised. “I’m sure  _both_  our team leaders will want to talk to them.”

Ruby squeaked again, the billowing of her cape signaling her rush toward the Grimm. Weiss ran after her, noting the thrum of Pyrrha’s footsteps close by.

Hopefully, they were not too late.

* * *

“…So… that was anticlimactic,” Weiss admitted in the dorm later. “I mean, Jaune managed to take on an Ursa Major on his own, which is impressive, but at the same time it seemed like… we were just in time to be completely useless.”

Ruby squeaked in annoyance.

“Pyrrha is not a wizard,” Weiss said flatly. “I don’t care what you saw, there is no such thing as magic.”

“We were in a forest made by fairies,” Blake pointed out.

“Do you actually believe in fairies?”

“…Not literal fairies. But the word has an interesting history, if you look into–”

There was a knock at the door. Yang sighed, her footsteps reverberating to the door. “Hello, sorry, we–oh! Pyrrha, hey!”

“Hello again. I… ah… just wanted to say, thank you for your help.”

“What, back in Forever Fall?” Weiss waved it off. “It’s not like we did anything–”

“Well, not just that. Your advice on… on team meetings. We had one and things are a lot better between us now. And Jaune has agreed to stop hanging around team CRDL, so there’s that.”

“Good for him,” Yang said brightly. “Hey, by the way, why does my little sister think you’re a wizard?”

“…What?”

"She claims you magicked something with Jaune’s shield–”

“Shh!” Pyrrha stepped in and shut the door. “Look, just… Jaune is going through some things, alright? He can’t know I used my semblance to help him.”

“…Of course not,” Weiss agreed. “I didn’t see anything.”

Yang managed to turn her snort of amusement into something resembling a sneeze. “Sorry. Long hair, gets into my nose sometimes. You know how that is.”

“…Yes, it’s why I wear a ponytail,” Pyrrha agreed, nonplussed. “Can… can I ask you to keep my semblance a secret?”

“Are you actually a wizard?” Weiss asked.

“Of course not! I just have a polarity semblance.”

“Ah. That would explain quite a bit.” Weiss nodded. “Of course, we can keep that quiet.”

“Right. Thank you.” Pyrrha nodded. “I… I think I’ll head back to my dorm, now. Uh, see you all in class?”

“We’ll be there,” Weiss agreed.

Yang shut the door after her, walked back over to her original seat, and sat down.

“…You  _saw_  nothing.”

“Yang, I am the only one allowed to make those jokes.”

“Alright, alright, just making sure.” Yang shrugged. “So, that was exciting.”

“That was only one Ursa,” Blake replied. “Try living outside the kingdoms.”

“…You know, I might take you up on that one day.”

 


	6. Part 6

“So…” Yang mused. “Why did we come out to Vale again?”

Ruby squeaked, lightly elbowing Weiss.

“That is a very good point,” Yang conceded.

“And in addition to that,” Weiss added, “we can welcome our guests from Vacuo!”

There was a moment where the only sound was Blake coughing, gently.

“…Which, I gather, is what Ruby just said.”

“Well, she said you wanted to spy on them so you had the upper hand in the tournament,” Blake allowed.

“Blake, how exactly would I go about spying on them?”

“You would…” She trailed off for a moment.

“I would…?”

“…listen in on their conversations,” Blake suggested. “About… how they fight.”

“A very popular topic of conversation among huntsmen and huntresses,” Yang pointed out.

“Well, true,” Weiss conceded. “That could be an option if I got close enough to hear them over  _all these foghorns!”_  She clutched at her ears. “Ever since the incident, I’ve been wondering how faunus can stand all this noise that happens everywhere!”

“…You’re… over-reacting,” Blake replied hesitantly.

“Really.”

“It’s like other background noise, you filter it out.”

“I sort of can’t, Blake. It’s my only way to notice things anymore.”

“…right.” There was a note of realization in Blake’s voice. “I… forgot.”

Ruby squeaked suddenly, grabbing Weiss’s hand and dragging her down some street or other. From the way that Yang and Blake’s footsteps followed, this wasn’t passing fancy.

A shard of glass crunched under Weiss’s foot.

“…What happened?” she asked warily.

“Robbery.” The replying voice was male. “Second Dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle.”

Yang sighed. “That’s terrible.”

“They left all the money again,” came another male voice.

Ruby squeaked questioningly.

“I know,” the first voice agreed, “Just doesn’t make a lick of sense. Who needs that much Dust?”

“I don’t know, an army?”

“You thinking the White Fang?”

Weiss heard Blake’s inhale.

“Yeah,” muttered the second male, “I’m thinking we don’t get paid enough.”

“…Let’s go,” Blake muttered, her tone downcast.

Yang tapped her foot for a moment, before clearing her throat. “Seriously? The White Fang? This is downtown Vale, people would notice. Not their modus operandi.”

“Hey look, kid, who’s the detective here, you or us?”

“That’s actually a good question,” Weiss stated flatly. “Did you miss the cigar?”

“The what?”

“The cigar. I can still smell it. Burnt down maybe four hours ago, maybe it’s in one of the trash cans, but the smoke lingers.”

“Look,” the other detective said, “lady, this is our case–”

“And this is our city,” Yang rebutted, her footsteps reverberating forward.

“Hey, this is a crime scene!”

“I’m not touching anything. In fact, I’m just looking. Right here, behind the counter. A cigar. Not touching it, just looking at it.”

“What do you–fine. Alright, there’s a cigar here.” The detective did not hide his irritation. “And burned down four hours ago… I don’t know how you figured that out, but all it proves is that one of the robbers had a cigar.”

Ruby squeaked suddenly.

“…what. What’s she doing?”

“She’s mute, that’s sign language,” Yang explained.

“So?”

“So she says that cigar is like the one Torchwick was smoking when she beat him up.”

“Torchwick… that low-down thief?” The detective scoffed. “And  _she_  beat him up?”

“Hey, call professor Ozpin if you don’t believe me. He’ll confirm everything–the cigar, her badassery, and your lead. Come on, Ruby, I think we’ll leave these gentlemen to pursue the real criminal.”

Ruby squeaked, grabbing Weiss’s hand and leading her away. She waited until they were a fair bit distant before pulling her hand from her wrist.

“I don’t need to be led everywhere!”

Ruby squeaked sadly.

“I know you’re trying to be helpful, but I can actually hear your cloak. It’s very noisy. I’m not going to lose you, promise.”

“What about me?” Yang asked in amusement.

“Yang, how much do you weigh?”

“…Are you calling me fat?”

Weiss pointed to her lidded eyes.

“That… doesn’t explain your question.”

“Your footsteps… reverberate. It’s like they echo through the ground.” She rolled her eyes. “And you, Blake, something about your shoes–”

“Blake’s not here.”

Weiss blinked. “…what?”

“Yeah, she left after they accused the White Fang.”

“…it’s those foghorns,” Weiss grumbled, walking down the road. “They drown out some of the quieter–”

And then she knocked over a human-shaped girder.

“Salutations!”

Or, maybe, a girder-boned human. Actually, from the faint squeaking, that was a distinct possibility.

“Ah… hello.” Weiss pushed herself off the ground with what she hoped was an apologetic smile. “I’m terribly sorry, I didn’t… see you there.” She extended her hand. “Can I help you up?”

“Certainly!” A grip like a vise grabbed her wrist, and she tugged the stranger to her feet. “I’m Penny! It’s a pleasure to meet you!”

“I’m Weiss. This is Ruby and Yang.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you!”

It was on that day that Weiss finally identified a fourth awkward silence. This one was similar to the one that involved waiting for something, except that even the quiet twiddling of breathing and other usual nonactions got just a touch quieter. This was the silence of ‘wait, did that just happen?’ wanting to be asked, even though it would be rude.

“…Did you hit your head?” Yang asked, proving that rudeness came in many forms.

“No.” Penny seemed confused. “Why would I hit my head?”

Weiss nodded slowly. “Yang just meant that you already told us it was a pleasure to meet us,” she explained in a gentle tone. “She was worried you might have some brain trauma.”

“Oh. Well, I can assure you that is not at all true.”

Weiss nodded again. “Of course not. Not that we would think any less of you if you had.”

Ruby squeaked questioningly.

“We’re all friends here,” Weiss continued in the same gentle tone.

“Friend…?” Penny’s voice was amazed, even as her oddly untainted breath came close to Weiss’s face. “Are we really friends?”

Oh gods, the poor girl.

“Of course,” she said, risking a smile.

"Sensational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!”

“Weiss,” Yang hissed, “what are you–?”

“Well, that sounds lovely!” Weiss declared, patting her shoulder gently. “Doesn’t that sound lovely, Ruby?”

Ruby squeaked, and it said something that Weiss was able to recognize it as being both an eager squeak and, more fundamentally, a confused one.

Yang, apparently realizing she was outvoted, sighed. “So… if we’re going to hang out, I know this place that serves really good ice cream…”

* * *

“…So. Penny! Where are you from?” Yang asked.

“I was raised in Atlas,” the girl replied.

“What do you know, Weiss comes from Atlas too!”

“This is true,” Weiss acknowledged. “I’m not sure if we would ever have run into each other, but I did have a… minor singing career. Have you heard any of my songs?”

“I might have,” Penny mused. “Mister Ironwood sometimes puts them on.”

Ruby squeaked in surprise, the sound slightly muffled.

“Ruby,” Weiss chastised, “don’t talk with your mouth full, it’s…”

She trailed off.

Yang chuckled. “Yes, Ruby, don’t talk with your mouth full, it’s so disgusting to  _watch_!”

Weiss reached across the table and bopped Yang with her plastic spoon. “I slipped up. No need to make a big deal out of it.”

Ruby squeaked again, this time not muffled by whatever she was eating.

“…Yes!” Penny confirmed. “General James Ironwood.”

Weiss quirked a brow. “Wait, you know the General?”

“Yes, he–” Penny paused. “…He and my father are close collaborators,” she explained. “My father works on automaton designs.”

“An inventor…” Weiss took a small bite of her ice cream. A picture was taking shape in her head.

“That’s pretty nifty,” Yang admitted. “Hey, doesn’t your dad work with him too, Weiss?”

The heiress waved a hand dismissively. “My father works with all the important people in Atlas. Everybody needs Dust, after all. Although,” she allowed, “my sister is a high-ranking graduate of Atlas academy, so I’ve talked to the General on occasion.”

“Is it true that he has a robot arm?”

“Yes,  _and_  a robot leg,  _and_  a robotic lung, but I cannot speak toward the rumors of his…” Weiss coughed into her fist. “Well. Suffice to say he is a gentleman and I am far too young.”

“Far too young for what?” asked Penny.

“Yoooou  _may_  want to ask your mom about that,” Yang advised.

“Oh, I don’t have a mother.”

In the growing silence, Weiss’s mental picture developed into something more coherent. And brutal. This poor girl,  _gods…_

“…I know what that’s like,” Yang managed. “Losing a parent. A mom.” She sighed gently. “You have my sincerest condolences.”

Ruby squeaked in sad agreement.

“I understand if you don’t want to talk about it,” Weiss said gently, “but we’ll be ready to listen if you ever need that.”

“…Oh! Yes. That. Well, thank you, friends Ruby, Weiss, and Yang.” Penny’s voice was bright. “But I never actually knew my mother, so it isn’t an issue for me.”

Oh, this was just getting worse and worse. How young would she have had to be, to not even remember her mother? Four? Five on the outlier?

Ruby’s squeak, and the accompanying hand squeeze, brought her back to her senses. “Ah. Right. Sorry, I just… So! I take it you’re in Vale for the Vytal Festival?”

“Oh yes!” Penny agreed. “I am looking forward to competing!”

“You’re a huntress?” Yang asked.

“Well, technically I’m just a student–”

“Good for you!” Weiss interjected encouragingly. “Don’t let anything keep you from working at your dream!”

“Er…” Yang cleared her throat. “Weiss, are you feeling okay?”

“What? Why are you asking?”

“You’re being…” Yang seemed to struggle for a moment. “…Nice.”

“Are you saying I’m  _not_  usually nice?”

“See, that’s more like you! Snippy and defensive, not so… sugary sweet Saturday morning cartoon!”

Ruby squeaked in agreement.

“Mister Ironwood has said you are a rather opinionated young lady,” Penny confirmed.

“Oh, he has, has he?” Weiss jabbed her spoon into her ice cream. “Opinionated. Of course I’m opinionated. If I weren’t opinionated, I’d be just another one of those high-society ditzes who’re somehow more blind then I am!”

She vengefully swallowed a frozen scoop, and then her ears caught up with her.

“…did… anybody hear that? Anybody who isn’t at this table, I mean?”

Ruby squeaked in the negative.

“Nope,” Yang confirmed, “nobody gave us a second glance.”

“Good. Ah… Penny, I apologize, I may have projected my own issues onto you.”

“Your own… issues?”

Weiss gestured at her eyes.

“…Why are you waving at your face like that?”

“I am blind, Penny. I literally cannot see.”

“Oh!” Penny said. And then, “I don’t understand. Why would you project your issues onto me?”

Weiss sighed, putting down her spoon. “Penny… we’re all friends here. It’s okay. We won’t judge you.”

Ruby squeaked in confusion.

“Judge me for what?”

“…When I lost my vision,” Weiss began slowly, “my other senses… became more acute to compensate. Which means I have very good hearing–even if it is sometimes overwhelmed by loud noises like foghorns. So, um… when we bumped into each other…”

“….Yes?” said Penny, still not comprehending.

“…Penny, I think of General Ironwood as a decent man. And I don’t think any less of him for having a prosthetic arm. But I know he gets odd looks sometimes, and I want to make it clear that we’re your friends. We’ll care for you, no matter how different you are.”

Ruby squeaked in agreement, quickly tapping out a message on Weiss’s hand. W-H-A-T D-I-D Y-O-U H-E-A-R?

“…That is good to know, friend Weiss!”

“Oh.” Yang seemed to reach a realization. “Oh my gods… but they look so real…”

“Yang,” Weiss said.

“Sorry. You’re right. Weiss is right, Penny, we care about you.”

“What look real?” Penny asked.

Weiss sighed. “…Your… prosthetic limbs.”

There was a pause.

“Prosthetic… limbs?”

“I heard the metal squeaking,” Weiss said. “When I fell on you. I’m sorry, I realize it must be a sensitive subject–”

“Oh! Prosthetic limbs! Yes. Yes, that… that is indeed a sensitive subject,” Penny agreed rapidly–so rapidly she hiccuped. “I’ve had them for so long I’ve nearly forgotten.  _Hic!_  Ha ha. It was very traumatic– _hic!_ –let’s not talk about it.”

“Of course,” Weiss agreed. “I understand entirely.”

* * *

“…So, where have you three been?”

Weiss frowned at Blake’s cool tone. “We ran into somebody from Atlas. One of the competitors, Penny Polendina. She was… sheltered, really, so we had a bit of a talk. Exchanged scroll numbers.” She shut the dorm door. “Is something bothering you?”

“…I don’t know. Those detectives just… assuming it was the White Fang, as if that were normal–”

“Oh, yeah!” Yang snorted. “We set them on the right path there. It turns out that it was probably Roman Torchwick, he left one of his cigars behind.”

“…Roman Torchwick?” Blake seemed hesitant. “Really, Roman Torchwick?”

“Yeah, Weiss smelled the cigar, Ruby identified it, and I told off the idiots.”

Ruby squeaked firmly.

“…Roman Torchwick,” Blake mused. “Are you sure about that?”

“Well, I don’t know what the detectives saw,” Weiss said flatly, “but if  _you_  don’t think it was the White Fang, then it can’t have been them.”

For a moment, the room was silent.

“…you don’t… think it  _was_  the White Fang, do you?”

Blake sighed. “I don’t know. Everyone needs Dust, and raids are a part of that, but… if we needed that much, we’d just get it from a train, they’re less guarded. It’s not what I would have done… it doesn’t make sense.” She groaned. “Then again, it doesn’t make sense for anybody to do that–not unless there’s some sort of gang war going on.”

“…There, uh… might be?” Yang coughed gently. “I mean… I don’t know for certain, but there could be a little bit of a power vacuum in the local mob–”

“Yang,” Weiss asked calmly, “have you had mob dealings?”

“No. Well… I haven’t worked for them. I just… asked a few questions.”

Ruby squeaked.

“…which may possibly have resulted in damage to a nightclub and a number of their enforcers, but strictly speaking that wasn’t an exchange. Just a punchout. So, you know…”

“How come you haven’t been arrested yet?” Weiss asked.

“The Vale police aren’t the most competent,” Blake pointed out. “Roman Torchwick, the White Fang, Sun Wukong–”

“Who?”

“A stowaway, from Mistral. Apparently, he did it ‘for fun’, and apparently he’s one of the Vytal competitors. He decided to follow me after I… left you guys.”

“Oh did he?” Yang asked, in a casually interested tone with no ulterior motives.

“He’s kind of… he’s nice,” Blake admitted. “A little overeager, and doesn’t always think things through. But, you know. Not a bad person overall.”

“Well… glad to see you’re making new friends,” Yang decided. “Maybe you could introduce us sometime.”

“Yes,” Weiss deadpanned, “because somebody who breaks the law for fun would be a wonderful companion.”

“I used to break the law,” Blake said flatly.

“Yes, but you did it for a cause. There’s a difference between deliberate defiance and flagrant disregard.”

“The point is, I don’t think it’s the White Fang doing this, but… I don’t know for certain. Things change fast, sometimes. If it is them…” Blake’s voice fell quiet.

“…If it is them, what?” Weiss asked. “What changes?”

“Things get… worse. For the faunus, for Vale… for everybody.”

For a moment, there was silence.

Then Ruby squeaked authoritatively.

“That’s a good idea,” Yang mused.

“What is?” Weiss said.

“Figuring out who’s stealing all the Dust. Ourselves,” Yang clarified. “Blake’s right, the cops aren’t really the best. They missed Torchwick’s cigar, which wasn’t even that well hidden. Those two detectives in particular… did you see the way they were holding their guns?”

“No,” said Weiss.

“…Right. It was unprofessional. Let’s just say that. The point is, between us we’ve got somebody who knows the underworld, somebody who knows the Fang, somebody who knows corporate stuff, and… Well, Ruby’s got a scythe? Useful for intimidation.”

“So, wait, we should investigate ourselves?” Weiss asked.

Ruby squeaked firmly.

“…There… is an SDC freighter scheduled to arrive in a couple of nights,” Weiss allowed. “If anybody was looking for Dust, I wouldn’t be surprised if they raided that.”

“A stakeout,” Yang decided. “We hang around the docks. That okay with everyone?”

Ruby’s squeak made it clear this was happening.

“…Alright.” Weiss shrugged. “I suppose I’ll get my stealth gear.”


	7. Part 7

****“Anything?”

A negatory squeak.

“Great.” Weiss crossed her arms. “I mean, on the one hand, I don’t want anything to happen, but on the other... it’s just... kind of boring to sit out here and have nothing happen.”

Ruby squeaked in understanding.

“ I mean at least you have something to watch, or some games on your scroll probably. I’m not complaining, it’s just... sometimes I had to sit and wait through long business meetings, or company dinners or... well, before the incident, I could at least people watch, but afterwards I... prefered something more physical to do.”

A shocked squeak came from her partner.

“...What?” Weiss thought over her words. “...No! No, not, not that. No. I mean combat training,” she clarified, “dancing maybe, not...  _that.”_

Ruby’s long, low squeak communicated her comprehension.

Weiss sighed. “Ruby… does this ever frustrate you?”

Squeak?

“This. Us. This thing where we have to come up with complicated workarounds just to communicate, because your usual methods don’t work, and I can’t get a good read on you in my usual way. Or what’s happening now, where I’m talking at you and not able to tell when I should stop… I mean, I know you’re a person, and an intelligent one if you designed your weapon, but at the same time I just hear… squeaking.”

Ruby sighed. She took Weiss’s hand, tapping out a quick code. I T-R-Y.

“It’s not that you try, Ruby. Or that I’m trying, it’s just…” Weiss sighed. “There  _was_  a time when I needed to be led around by my hand. And have doors opened. There was a time when I absolutely had to have every bathroom countertop organized the same way, and needed somebody nearby. And it was frustrating and horrible and I hated it, and I made it a point to learn, quickly, how to adapt. And now… now I’m in this same place again, where there is this whole new challenge that ordinary people don’t have and… Ruby, did you ever go through that?”

M-A-Y-B-E.

“Maybe? What do you mean, maybe?”

Y-O-U-N-G.

“Right… four years old. I guess you really don’t remember a time when you could talk.” Weiss rubbed her brow. “I guess… here we are. On a roof. And you’re the one looking–You are looking, right? You’re not giving me pointless sympathetic glances, because you know I can’t see them.”

Ruby squeaked in annoyance. F-O-C-U-S-E-D.

“Good. I mean, good. My point is, I’m basically useless right now. You’re the one with eyes, even if they’re strained in the dark. All I hear is swish swish, waves, a few distant bullheads, basic ordinary stuff.”

B-U-L-L-H-E-A-D-S?

“Yes, there are a few flying around from the north, they’ll pass by in about ten minutes.”

Ruby squeaked, shoving a scroll into her hand.

“What?” Weiss blinked. “You want me to call Yang?”

A confirming squeak.

“About the bullheads.”

A frustrated confirming squeak.

“…Alright,” Weiss said hesitantly, “you’re the team leader.”

She brought the scroll to her mouth, quickly and quietly speaking Yang’s number into the microphone, and then to her ear. After a moment, it picked up.

_“Hey, Weiss. What’s up?”  
_

“Your sister thinks I should tell you that bullheads are coming by in about eight minutes.”

_“Bullheads? That’s unusual.”  
_

Weiss frowned. “What do you mean? Airships fly around all the time.”

_“Maybe in Atlas, but Vale’s got an integrated road system. Aircraft are point-to-point transports, they’re only used when you’ve got a really big load or a really fast trip to make.”  
_

“…So the bullheads passing by–”

_“Maybe it’s something unrelated. But we should be ready. How’d you know about them, anyway?”  
_

“Engines over water make a distinct…”

Weiss paused.

“Over the water. They’re coming in from over the water. Bullheads aren’t intercontinental, why wouldn’t they just fly over the city–?”

_“Movement on the docks… Blake says it’s the White Fang. Well, great, and here I was thinking it was–”  
_

Ruby squeaked suddenly.

_“Oh, Torchwick’s down there too. He just called the Fang people animals. Wait, Blake, where are you–? Blake’s gone down there. She seemed really upset.”_

Weiss sighed. “Right, I’m hanging this up and we can coordinate on the fly.” She shut off the scroll and turned to Ruby. “Lead the way.

* * *

There were voices everywhere. That was one crucial difference.

The Grimm never spoke, never needed to. Growls, snarls, chittering... sounds meant to elicit fear, a moment of ‘aha, you are doomed.’ For Weiss, however, those very same taunts were merely sudden confirmation of the already present sound of their paws and hooves crunching against snow, or leaves, or slapping against bare stone.

Here, though, there were constant outcries. Not necessarily shouts, but quieter things--”Okay, I’ll sneak around the side.” “Damn it, my gun jammed.” A small hiss when she flicked a glyph up, deflecting a shot from her partner.

And in the distance, the bullheads, coming closer. There was no denying it--their presence was intended.

For an average person, the noise would be just that--noise, a nonsensical overlay over a world of visual color. Weiss had been like that, a little over five years ago. But now her world was a collection of weak and strong sounds, decompiled and organized in the space of seconds.

She dashed sideways as gunshots barked out, Myrtenaster’s chamber humming under her thumb until she pressed it down and leapt out. From the cries the White Fang members gave, they clearly recognized her as a Schnee.

Which was just what she was counting on.

She didn’t even have to make any speech before a number of guns started barking at her; she’d already brought up her sword and twirled a shield with her barrier Dust, the bullets ricocheting off in a chorus of metallic pings. She turned toward them with a small smirk on her face, curtsying even as their boots beat toward her--and then, with the scent of roses, the ratcheting of Ruby’s scythe cut them off, their eventual landing heralded by splashes.

At Ruby’s questioning squeak, Weiss focused her earing. “The bullheads are almost here. Any plans to keep Torchwick from escaping?” She felt a finger tap her sword. “Right. Let’s do this thing.”

Two squeaks.

“No?”

Ruby quickly grabbed her arm. W-B. R-Y.

“Me and Blake on Torchwick while you and Yang...?”

B-H

“BH... Bullhead? You two will handle the bullheads?” At Ruby’s squeak, Weiss nodded. “Well... if you’re sure. Can you point me at Blake?”

Ruby grabbed her sword hand and swung it in a particular direction.

“Alright. Good luck.”

Weiss rushed across the ship’s deck, skidding to a stop when she heard the distinctive trill of Gambol Shroud’s blade through the air. Myrtenaster rose, the chamber clicking under her thumb and humming; at one note she slammed her thumb down and quickly slashed at the deck of the boat, spreading a sheet of ice across the ground. The point of her sword stabbed through the swiftly growing ice, preventing it from catching the ankles of her teammate.

“Weiss?!”

“Ruby’s put us on catching Torchwick. Come on!”

“So you’re working with a Schnee?” snarled a nearby voice. “Traitor.”

For a moment, Weiss couldn’t hear the trill of Gambol Shroud.

“...I’m working to make a better future for the faunus. I’d rather we not become a glorified bandit tribe.” The click of Blake’s shoes rushed past Weiss. “Torchwick is this way.”

Weiss nodded, rushing after her. It wasn’t as though anything she could say would change the opinions of the White Fang, anyway. She tracked Blake’s path instead, catching up to her swiftly. “The bullheads will be here soon, Yang and Ruby are going to handle them.”

“Do you think they can?”

“...Ruby thinks they can. And I trust Ruby.”

There was a brief release of breath, not quite a sigh... acceptance. “Alright, fine. But if they need me, I’m going after them.”

“You mean  _we’re_  going after them.”

Blake gave an amused hum. Then her voice turned serious. “Torchwick!”

“Oh, it’s the kitten--and the ice queen?” The voice dripped with sarcastic glee, almost swaggering as the footsteps clomped confidently closer.

“We know about the bullheads,” Weiss said flatly. “You’re not getting on them.”

The thief’s steps hesitated--so very briefly--before changing direction. “Well, well, you are connected, aren’t you? I have to say, though, I’m flattered. Here you are, surrounded by the very people who attacked you and your company and your family so many times, and you pick me over them.”

Her hand tightened around her sword. “You can give up now, while you’re still able to walk, or you can give after we trash you and...” She thought quickly. “...whatever that thing is you’re wearing.”

“It’s a derby,” Blake offered quickly. “And I agree, it is hideous.”

“...Did you just insult my hat?”

“Apparently,” said Weiss, keeping her surprise mostly hidden.

“You know, ice queen, if I wasn’t such a consummate professional, I’d tear you to shreds for that little statement. Unfortunately, I have a prior engagement.”

She heard the click and started to one side--before the sound of rockets caught her ear. For a brief moment, Weiss focused her aura on her ears; an explosion sent her spiralling through the air.

_Landing strategy--landing strategy!_

A glyph set her up against a brief wall, her legs in a perfect horizontal crouch, before she pushed forward in a lunge. Myrtenaster’s tip painted a path of ice for her to skate down and around to cut off Torchwick’s retreat. The trill of Gambol Shroud swinging through the air told her Blake had managed to get out of the explosion’s path--somehow...

The moment her feet were on the ground, she twirled her blade to catch Torchwick’s weapon. His shocked snarl was enough to make her grin; metal clanged against metal for a few seconds more.

Then something swept his feet out from underneath him, likely Gambol Shroud by the trilling sound, and he hit the ground with a grunt. It was quickly followed by another as Weiss slammed her foot into his chest. “Unf--Well, now, I didn’t know you were into this sort of thing.”

“Are all criminals this lecherous, or is it just the pathetic ones?”

Blake coughed. “...I... wouldn’t know anything about that...”

* * *

The police arrived swiftly afterward, brought in by the chaos of the battle. There weren’t that many people for them to arrest--Ruby and Yang hadn’t managed to stop the bullheads from picking up the White Fang members, though they had ensured their functionality would be limited in future outings--but with the capture of Roman Torchwick the team counted it a success.

“Well, I hope they get some good info out of him,” Yang quipped dryly. “I mean, we basically did a good eighty percent of their job.”

Blake sighed. “It’s not very likely. They aren’t the smartest cops in the world, and Torchwick’s... very good at twisting words, apparently. If he could get the White Fang to work with him despite his treatment of faunus...”

“They wouldn’t tell us anyway,” Weiss pointed out. “We’re just ‘students,’ after all. At the very least, though, the White Fang has been caught collaborating with somebody of ill repute--both by human and faunus standards.”

“...that might not be a good thing,” Blake mumbled.

“Well... I dunno what’s going to happen next, but I think we all learned one thing important.” Yang’s voice was filled with confidence. “Ruby here is becoming a great team leader. I mean, come on, we took on a bunch of armed people with bullheads and you know what? We won! We got the big bad guy!”

“I’m... not sure about that--”

Ruby squeaked authoritatively.

“Ruby’s right, Blake. We worked together as...”

Weiss trailed off for a moment, as a smile graced her face.

“...as a team.”


End file.
